1,500 Daven for End of Kiryat Yovel Chillul Shabbos

YERUSHALAYIM
Bird eye view of Jerusalem, with Kiryat Yovel in the foreground. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.
Bird’s-eye view of Yerushalayim, with Kiryat Yovel in the foreground. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Some 1,500 people participated in a special kabbalas Shabbos in the Yerushalayim neighborhood of Kiryat Yovel, supporting Shabbos in the wake of desecration of the holy day in the neighborhood. The event was organized in response to the presentation of films in the neighborhood community center on Shabbos, a project that was begun last month.

Participating in the event were members of all the shuls in the neighborhood, along with Rabbanim of all the area shuls. According to residents, the director of the community center has “made it a personal goal to upend the status quo in the city. All members of the observant community, chareidi and national religious, are united on this issue,” said one resident.

According to community leaders, Mayor Nir Barkat has promised to act on the matter. The askanim said that Barkat had promised to pressure the community center’s management to stop the film presentations on Shabbos, even threatening to close the community center down if they do not comply. However, nothing has been done yet, and the film presentations have continued uninterrupted since the beginning of December.

Still, the askanim said they were prepared to give the mayor more chance to act, as they understood that making the change might be difficult. As a result, they were trying to ensure that protests remained calm. However, said one resident of the neighborhood, “there are a lot of people who are very upset by this. It would be best to resolve this sooner [rather than later], before they completely lose their patience with this chillul Shabbos.”

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